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Post by Warhammer Gorvar on Feb 10, 2013 16:14:25 GMT 1
It is the end of 23th Century. Makind has reached the stars and has claimed the beating heart of the Galactic Community with a iron fist. The Terran Empire is the dominant faction in the universe after the defeat of the Saurok Hierarchy and a delicate peace with th Republic of Andromeda. This cinflict was known as the Solar wars. To uphold the peace and trade, a large space station is build which has the size of a small moon. This station with roughly one billion inhabitants is called "Armstice station". However thirty years after the Solar Wars, trade has all but evaporated from Armstice station and crime is on the rise. To counter this, the Empire has send one of it's war heroes which turned Armstice into a violent police state. This is the story of a group of outlaws who tried to make a living but because of one gunshot changed everything.
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Post by Warhammer Gorvar on Feb 11, 2013 15:31:38 GMT 1
Prologue
At the end of the 23th Century, Earth years, no sentient creature in the milky way could deny mankind’s firm grasp. At the end of the 21st century, Man used their last resources on their homeworld to expand to the stars. They settled every world they could in their Sol system. And they settled well, and thrived. Every colony was served a different major power on the Earth and barely interacted with each other. Finally the League of Nations unified after the discovery of warp drive which in theory allowed space travel to other solar systems.
Two centuries later, mankind had expanded to nearby systems until they came across the Saurok Hierarchy who just began their colonization tour. The first human colony in Hierarch space was called Icarus, to show that man did not over reach but grabbed what he wanted. While Man descended from apes, the Sauroks descended from reptiles. Dinosaurs to be exact, not unlike the creatures that had a shot on Earth 65 million years ago, but a lot smarter. Although man did make contact with the aliens and were eager to learn about them, the Sauroks did not share that sentiment and every unmanned drone with a message was shot down. This began a cold war between the humans and the Sauroks.
Nobody knows who shot first, but three years after first contact the colony on Icarus got obliterated. There were few survivors and those who did survive were either caught and eaten or barely made it back home to Sol. This vile act fuelled a political extreme right wing faction on Earth called “The Terrans”. Their leader, Nero Arcturus, rallied all of mankind and called for a bloody crusade to avenge those who lost their lives at Icarus. Brandishing the old romantic title of Emperor, Emperor Nero Arcturus unified the Sol system under one banner and called it “the Terran Empire”. Humanity’s rage fuelled a war that would last decades. This would later be called the Solar Wars.
To counter the Sauroks impressive strength, the Empire created a new brand of super soldier. These marines were called the Legion. Twice as tall as a man and encased in thick heavy armour and armed to the teeth with anything that could punch a hole through a tank. To the normal soldiers, these Legionnaires were like living embodiment of gods of war. The most famous is General Marcus Aurelius, Commander of the Terran empire flagship “the Dauntless” and victor of every battle he commanded.
The war finally reached Sarik Prime, the Sauroks home world. However the Sauroks managed to contact another alien race from Andromeda. These creatures were much like humans except they had four arms and a tail, and were smarter than the cold Sauroks. The Sauroks managed to convince the Andromedia that the Empire was a vile aggressor and needed to be stopped. With their mechs and legions of robots the war lasted another decade. During this decade the war could’ve gone either way and colonies on both sides were destroyed utterly. One time the Andromeda-Saurok Alliance made it to Sol and destroyed Earth’s moon in a surprise attack. This fuelled mankind’s anger which was not sated until Armistice Day.
After thirty years of war, on 11 December 2278 Sarik Prime was finally conquered and the Saurok terrorists subjugated. The Andromeda Republic agreed to a truce and pulled back from the Saurok system. The Treat of Sarik Prime annexed all Saurok territory to the Empire and the Hierarchy had to answer to their new human masters for all matters both state and religious. Many Sauroks fled to the Republic although many more were forced to become the Empire’s second class citizens.
Armstice station was created at the end of the Solar Wars as a way to uphold the peace between the Terran Empire and the Republic of Andromeda. It was located a stone’s throw away from the Andromeda border and near enough from an Imperial military star base. It was the largest station made, it was the size of a small moon, similar to Earth’s lost moon Luna. It had the shape of a large mushroom of sorts with one large head where the rich folks life. In that head department the people who live there have artificial sunlight which can simulate night and day. With its sky scrapers, parks, swimming pools, ‘Massage parlors’ and cinema’s it is Eden created by the best of hands and minds humanity could conjure. The inhabitants of Armstice called it cloud city. However Cloud City was the mask of a crime ridden Armstice station.
Despite the boom of trade it had in its first five years, the decline of trade changed everything for the worse. The decline of trade was not the fault of the Governors per se, but the discovery of a new powerful fossilized fuel in an asteroid belt two sectors away which made Armstice nearly obsolete as a trade hub. If it weren’t for Prince Alexander’s bully tactics which turned Armstice into a toll booth of sorts for passing ships, things might have gotten worse. But not by much. Unemployment rates along with organized crime and population growth skyrocketed as the economy plummeted. To keep a brave face to the Andromeda Republic, Emperor Nero II( Nero Arcturus’ son) send a new governor to armistice along with an enforcer.
Prince Alexander Arcturus was the son of Emperor Nero II and heir to the Empire, was send to govern Armstice station and did so for the past five years. He was a pretty face and quite smart but treated the station nothing more as a bench until he would claim his father’s and his grandfather’s crown as Emperor and leave Armstice to its vices. The police, called the Guard, had a firm grasp in Cloud City although their iron fist isn’t needed. Only 10 000 or so people lived there, mostly humans and several alien dignitaries and servants. 10 000 out of a billion who lived on Armstice. The Guard was led by former General Aurelius and although he served Prince Alexander, it was Aurelius who ruled. His Dauntless along with several smaller frigates and a company of former Legion soldiers were the iron fist if Prince Alexander’s silk glove did not work.
On the lower levels, where the artificial light barely shined, that is where the trouble was. The docks is where the trouble started. The workers barely got paid for their work down there and are easily bribed by crime syndicates and the like. In Cloud City movie stars, accountants and pencil pushers earned roughly a million credits each month and spend it on their harems, alimony’s, drug habits, cars and other first world problems. Dock workers, if they were even lucky to have the job due to the decline of trade, had to make do with barely a tenth of that money and had five or so mouths to feed.
Those further down below lived in Rat city, where the Guard barely showed unless in force, had to rely on themselves. Poverty, crime, prostitution, drugs and all that good stuff originated here. It was a cycle of sorts. The rich from Cloud City came down to Rat City for their hookers and blow which gave the precious financial means for the Council of Rainbow City, the official name of the lower area until the trade dropped and it earned the name Rat City, to attempt a education system and law enforcement. Sometimes if they could afford it, they would turn on the artificial sun for a day or so for the holidays. So it’s not uncommon for gangs to pop up in these areas.
This is the story of one of those gangs that changed all of that. It all began with a simple heist on a bank which stored the funds of the biggest crime bosses on Armstice. Needless to say it went wrong and yet for the events that followed very, very right.
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Post by Warhammer Gorvar on Feb 11, 2013 15:31:56 GMT 1
Chapter 1
The skycar made a sloppy landing which shook the driver and his passengers around. The driver opened his door quickly and rushed to the door behind him and opened it. The driver, easily in his early fourties, wore a long brown trench coat and a strange hat which only humans could recall from Earth’s distant past when men on horses went around shooting each other or herded livestock. The woman in back held a wounded younger man in her arms, his red blood being a stark contrast to her blue arms around him. The driver took off his hat and wiped the sweat on his brow before he took the younger man by his shoulder.” Kid, you awake?” The younger man, probably in his early twenties, was pale from the blood loss as he with one hand he held his chest and the other held the woman’s hand. He gave a faint nod. “Okay, hold on partner we are going to fix you up.” The cowboy said as he picked up the kid and carried him out the car. The Andromedia woman got out as well as she looked worried at the younger man. She held out her four hands and gasped when the realization came to her. “He lost a lot of blood…” “No fucking shit, open the door.” The cowboy said as he carried the kid to a warehouse. The woman went over to the number pad and punched in the code. The doors slid open as dust flew everywhere. The cowboy carried the kid in as the Andromedia closed the door behind them. “Hold on a bit longer kid.” The cowboy said to the younger man.” I know you are hurting bad and you lost a lot of blood, but that’s okay.” He placed the younger man on a couple of containers. “Okay?!” the woman shouted.” How is this fucking okay?!” “At least he’s dying slowly!” the cowboy retorted” It gives him a fucking chance! Try to find the First Aid kit so I can stop the bleeding!” “where is it?!” she shouted. “I don’t fucking know, LOOK!” the cowboy ripped the boy’s shirt open and tried to find the gunshot wound. The woman ran off and came back a moment later with a medkit. “Give it here.” The cowboy threw his trench coat and his hat away and took the kit off her. He put it on a box next to him and took out a syringe, a magnet and a medical laser. He pushed the button on the magnet and pulled the bullet out before he used laser to seal the wound ” Kid, you looking at me. KID!” he slapped the boy’s cheek and shoved the syringe to his face so he could see.” I’m gonna put this in your veins okay?” “Luke, no…” the kid groaned. “ No…no needles.” “I don’t do this, you are dead. You understand?” Luke said as he grabbed the boy’s left arm.” Miss Yellow, hold his hand.” “What, why?” she asked. “You’re his girlfriend aren’t you?! Part of the job, hold his fucking hand and tell him he’ll be okay!” Miss Yellow already held the kid’s hand and strayed his hair with her other hands. “You’ll be okay.” She smiled at the kid.” Mr Black is a combat vet remember? He fought in the Solar Wars. He’ll have you fixed up in no-time.” The kid gave a faint smile and a nod. Luke jabbed the syringe in the kid’s arm. “What did you give him?” Ms Yellow asked as she held the kid’s hand. “Stuff that will keep his heart pumping and if we are lucky, heal the insides the bullet hurt.” Luke replied. The kid closed his eyes and rolled his head to the right. Ms Yellow immediately checked his pulse and listened to her lover’s heart, and nodded to the cowboy with a sigh of relief. Luke sighed of relief as well and walked over to his coat. He took out a box of cigarettes and took one out. He grabbed his lighter from his back pocket and lit the cigarette. He inhaled the fumes and took a moment to relax. Ms Yellow walked over. Without saying anything Luke offered the box. The Andromedia took one and gratefully took the fire as well as he calmed down herself. “Will he be okay?” she asked.” Mr Green I mean.” “Cut with the code name bullshit, we’re past that now.” He replied. “I know his name is Matt.” She gave a nod before he exhaled.” Yeah, it is.” “You two serious?” Luke asked. “What is it to you?” she glared. “Fine, don’t tell me.” Luke threw his cigarette on the floor and extinguished it.” Aren’t you at least going to tell me your name?” “Z doesn’t like us knowing each other’s name.” she replied. “And Z I’m pretty sure doesn’t like you two fucking each other.” Luke replied. The two hands on his left side of his face came out of nowhere and nearly dropped Luke flat. He forgot Andromedia could hit twice as hard as a human could. “Look I will find out sooner or later and I really like that kid so I wont fucking dob you in.” Luke replied as he rubbed his cheek.” Besides he told me you two were seeing each other.” “He did?” Ms Yellow asked.” Yeah of course he did, you two get along like…a horse on fire?” “House.” Luke replied.” But yeah, we do...never told me your name though.” She took another taste of the cigarette before she threw it away. “It’s Amellia. And you didn’t answer my fucking question yet.” “Luke, nice to meet ya.” He replied.” I got him stabilized, but we’re going to have to take him to doctor to get him properly fixed. And don’t you worry about Z, I’m pretty fucking pissed at him myself and we go way back.” “How back?” she folded her arms. “Your dad didn’t even think of fucking your mum yet, back.” Luke replied.” I knew this job was fishy from the word go. Those bullshit trials of his must’ve tipped off the Guard.” “Or we got a snitch.” Amellia said. “Shit…didn’t think of that.” The cowboy replied.” Makes you think that though?” “Those guys were former Legion, Luke.” She replied.” Bad ass motherfuckers only to be used as riot police or for raids. A alarm that bank gave us…what five minutes, seven tops? Those fuckers rolled in after three.” “I wasn’t there; I was with Mr Gr…Matt in the vault. I heard shooting, who shot? Was it Gray?” “No Steel.” She replied.” Steel shot the moment the first guy popped his head in.” “Steel?” Luke asked. “Yeah, then he began shooting the hostages. Gray had to tackle him down to stop. Than all hell went loose, Cops came in, people were shooting and dying, Matt got shot…you know the rest.” Luke took another cigarette as the blood pressure came back with a vengeance.” Fucking cyborg, I told Z we couldn’t trust that bucket of guts and bolts!” he kicked an empty box across the room. He went with his hands through his hair.” You saw what happened to anyone else?” “I urghm…” she thought.” I think I saw Gray jump in with Mr Red and flew off with their escape ride.” “Coward scaly bastards…” Luke growled. He always hated Sauroks, a souvenir from the war along with the nightmares of seeing those monsters rip his friends arms off and eat them. “You know what happened to Mr Purple.” Amellia let the racism slide. “Shit, forgot about him. Damn…” Luke cursed again.” That was military grade hardware, that thing could blow one of the Republic’s Mantis suits into bits. He didn’t stand a chance.” “Means we were set up. Luke, they knew our escape routes, our drivers.” She said as she walked around.” Question is who? It can be anyone.” “Even you?” Luke glared before he motioned to Matt.” Him?” “One wrong move and I’ll snap your neck old man. You keep him out of this.” she glared. “That kid saved my ass, I owe him! He took that bullet for me! You think a rat does that?!” Luke shouted at her.” You think if I was the fucking rat I would let him die like this while I could drop him off at a hospital?! And if you were the rat you would do the exact same thing! I don’t know much bout your people, but I know you aren’t fucking heartless. And since the Guard isn’t here yet I doubt very much so anyone is a snitch, so calm the fuck down!”
The door slid open as both Luke and Amellia drew their guns and aimed it at the door. A large reptile entered the room as he held his hands in the air. “Don’t shoot!” he cried out.” It’s me, Gray.” “Jesus Christ, Gray…” Luke rubbed his brow as he and Amellia lowered their guns.” We nearly shot you, you dumb bastard!” “The hell for?” the Saurok asked. He tilted his head to the side as he saw the wounded younger human.” Is he…?” “No.” Amellia replied.” We fixed him up. The fuck were you, and where is Mr Red?” “Dead.” Gray replied.” Sniper got him in the head, I had to climb my way down here.” He walked over to them.” Why the hell were you going to shoot at me for?” “Ms Yellow thinks we got a snitch.” Luke replied.” We’re being paranoid here.” “We got two men down, one who lost a lot of blood and we got Mr Steel unaccounted for who might have the 10 million credits and either ran off or is handing it over to Aurelius.” “No.” Gray said. “No, how do you mean No?” Luke asked. “I got the credits.” The Saurok smirked.” Stashed it somewhere safe in Cloud City before I came down to Rat City.” “The fuck did you put it there for?!” Amellia shouted.” The Guard owns that turf! Are you stupid as well as ugly?!” “The Guard will be looking down here and the docks for it instead of there.” Gray hissed.” And you should be grateful I came back here. I could’ve grabbed a shuttle and left this station! Hell we still can.” “No, Z would track you down faster than a coyote hunting a hare. It’s ten million creds partner, way to fucking much to disappear with.” Luke shook his head. “Z could be the snitch.” Amellia replied. “There is no fucking Snitch!” Luke replied.” For all we know Aurelius got those Legion guys posted there. I fought under him during the Solar Wars and he always had men stationed near heavy value shit at all times.” “He knew our escape routes!” “Master General who led the invasion on Sarik Prime, he knows this shit.” Luke replied. They stopped arguing when Mr Green began coughing loudly and began speaking gibberish. Amellia immediately walked over and held his hand while feeling on his forehead.” He’s burning up…” she said. “Com systems still out?” Luke asked the Saurok. Mr Gray took out his phone and took a quick look.” Yes, still out. Seems a bit excessive don’t you think Mr Black?” “Former General Aurelius lived for this shit, there is a reason they only accept Diehards in the Legion.” Luke replied.” We need to contact Z fast, get a doctor here. Then get the money and scram.” “Good plan.” Mr Gray agreed.” So how do we contact him, all systems are out. I could try to use smoke signals but I got no wood.” “Don’t be a smart ass, Gray…” Luke groaned.” Not in the fucking mood.” “I’m the only one who’s doing something about this.” Gray glared.” I got the money stashed somewhere safe, I came down here to find you guys and all you have ever done is pointing your gods damned monkey fingers at me! And let’s not forget it was that cyborg that started all this shit!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Luke threw his cigarette down.” Sorry Gray….this was supposed to be my last gig.” Mr Gray gave a nod.” Still, cant believe he just started shooting people..” “The man is a nutjob.” Luke replied.” Any bastards who is insane enough to replace his dick with a machinegun or a chainsaw should be shot. Hope the Guard got him…” [That breaks my organic heart Mr. Black.] a metallic voice said. Luke, Gray and Amellia drew their guns again as the voice came from everywhere. A eerie chuckle sounded through the room until a half-man/ half-machine appeared out of nowhere. He was holding a can of cola with a straw in it as he took a long sip from it. In his other hand he had a bag of junkfood. [Anyone want some burgers?]
TBC
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Post by Warhammer Gorvar on Feb 16, 2013 18:24:26 GMT 1
Chapter 2
Then
“Luke, my man.” Z smiled as he shook Luke’s hand.” Good to see you my friend, please take a seat.” Z was an overweight old man in his late fifties who dressed in fancy clothes which fit with his position as a businessman. Of course all the restaurants and bars owned by him were a cover for Z’s real empire. “Thanks for picking me up from jail.” Luke replied with a smile as he sat down. Z waved it away and took out a bottle of whiskey.” It’s nothing don’t mention it, I would’ve gone down there myself but my doctor says my health aint to good anymore.” “Doesn’t stop you drinking and smoking though.” Luke smirked as Z poured in two glasses and handed one over to the gunslinger. “I gotta have some flaws right?” Z smirked and sat down. He took a sip from his glass and placed it down on the very decorated desk.” I assume you heard about Holly and your boy?” Luke gave a sad note and drank the full contents of his glass in one gulp.” I did. And it’s fine, I was locked in Arkham for seven years. Hope she and Billy are happy.” “I don’t understand how you are so cool with it, Luke.” Z replied.” She ran off with a god damn plastic surgeon. If I were you I would hunt that sucker down.” “And what good would that do? My wife would hate me, my kid probably wont even recognize me and that man has been a better father to him then I was. It’s fine Z, I just want to get back to work. I want to have some money before I get to old for this shit.” “To old?!” Z laughed out loud. His laugh was interrupted by a heavy burst of coughs.” Sorry about that.” He said while he recovered.” But Luke, I got ten years on you buddy. You just made me feel like an old man!”
“The fuck you talking about, Z?” Luke smirked.” You are still as fat as you were ten years ago.” Z laughed a bit more before his coughs came in between again.” Don’t make me laugh so hard damnit.” He grabbed a cigar from his box on his desk and lit it. He inhaled deeply before he exhaled the rich fumes. He offered the box to Luke who gladly took one and lit it himself. “Right I think I got a job for you. How do you feel like being my driver?” “Z, I love you partner but cut the bullshit.” Luke replied as he placed his glass down.” I don’t wanna drive you around Armstice while you eat and drink and fuck some girl your granddaughter’s age in the back. I wanna do a job, a real job.” Z looked at his friend as the smoke obscure some of his face.” Luke, you’ve been in jail along time for me. I cant ask you to do this shit for me, man. If you get caught again it’s for life.” “ I’m not going to work some dead end job for ten years so I can have a half decent pension Z. Come on, you got a job somewhere for me, right?”
Z sighed before he smoked a bit more.” There is one job. Very risky though, but if it goes smooth I can give you a cut of one million.” “One million?” Luke blinked.” Shit, what are we going after?” “The Syndicates piggy bank. 15 million.” Z replied. “The Syndicate?” Luke shook his head.” Z if we do that we will have half of Armstice on our asses.” “Relax, got that covered.” Z replied.” The guy who hires us is a big head in Cloud City. We do this, he will make sure we get off scot free.” “Who?” “Not gonna say, but he checks out and I worked with him before. All I’m saying this job is big risk but worth the dough.” “Fine, keep your fucking secret.” Luke exhaled his cigar’s fumes.” How many guys?” “Seven guys, two of ‘em are getaway drivers. The bank is a big fucking building, we need two guys for the safe, two to stand guard and one that takes care of the hostages. The two get away drivers double our chances to get the money out safely if either the cops or the syndicate goes after our asses.” Luke exhaled before he extinguished the cigar.” Seven is risky though.” “The entire job is. But I got the best in this group. Two of ‘em are Sauroks though and a Andromedia.” “Fuck me Z, aliens?” Luke groaned. “Hey hey hey, I don’t tolerate racists in my office Luke.” Z pointed at his friend. “Those fuckers tried to kill me in the Solar Wars, I can be as racist as a I fucking want. Don’t worry, I’ll be professional. You know me.” “I do.” Z replied and doused his cigar.” I’ll be counting on that.”
Now
The gunslinger pushed the cyborg to the wall with a gun aimed under his chin. “ You think this is funny, you sack of wires?!” [You spilled my drink.] The cyborg replied with a matter of fact tone. “I DON’T GIVE A FLYING FUCK!” Luke shouted and shoved the gun to the cyborg’s face.” Because of your fucking trigger finger we are FUCKED! The cops are after us, every dirty bastard on Armstice is after us and even if we get the money out we cant get off Armstice EVER! You killed a innocent woman for crying out loud!” [She pressed the alarm button Mr. Black, I had to shoot her. And you should really calm down, you might get a heart attack.] Mr Steel smirked. “I’ll show you a fucking heart attack…!” Luke growled and loaded his gun. Mr Gray and Ms Yellow both had to pull him off before he could shoot at Mr. Steel. “We need him alive, Black!” Gray shouted.” If the cops find us we need his gunplay and hacking skills to get out of here!” “He is a fucking killer.” Luke glared. “We all are.” Amellai replied.” We all killed cops when we busted out, and innocent people got killed to. You need a time-out?” Luke glared at her, but surely enough placed his gun away.” Fine.” “Good.” Mr Gray said.” So Steel, the hell were you?” the Cyborg replied.[ I even called for a doctor for Mr Green over there.] “ you told him you started this shit?” Luke glared. “Black, shut up.” Amellia glared before she focused on Steel.” And?” [He will be here in…] he opened a flap on his forearm.[ Ten minutes. Also I got a nice surprise in the trunk of my skycar outside.]
“Care to show us?” Luke asked. [ It wouldn’t be a surprise if I showed it, would it?] he smirked before he turned to leave. “Yellow, keep an eye on Green.” Luke said before he and Gray went outside. The trio walked to the steel coloured skycar as Mr Steel tapped the side of his forehead. His eyes flashed briefly as the alarm of the car switched itself off. “Handy.” Gray commented. [Thank you, 500 credits well spend.] Steel replied as he opened the trunk. As Luke peered inside, he could not help but smile a little.” Steel, I’m taking back what I said before.”
TBC
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Post by Warhammer Gorvar on May 28, 2013 13:31:44 GMT 1
Goddamnit Steve!
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